sweatbox

[ swet-boks ]

noun

1. a sauna or other enclosure for sweating.
2. any uncomfortably warm room or environment.
3. a box or cell in which a prisoner is punished or given the third degree.
4. a device for removing moisture from tobacco leaves, figs, raisins, etc.

sweatbox

/ ˈswɛtˌbɒks /

noun

1. a device for causing tobacco leaves, fruit, or hides to sweat
2. a very small pen or cubicle where a pig is fattened intensively
3. informal.
   a narrow room or cell for a prisoner
4. informal.
   any place where a person sweats on account of confinement, heat, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweatbox¹

First recorded in 1870–75; sweat + box ¹